These Things Happen
by j.aaya
Summary: Five years have passed and Alison is living a seemingly perfect life: she has a loving husband, a great job, and her sister is about to be released from the hospital. Things are normal for once, a little too normal, that is until an unruly student, an unexpected incident, and an unforeseen change of events brings back the chaos that always seems to follow Alison Dilaurentis.
1. Don't Forget Where You Belong

Hey! So, I know that summary was garb, but this is something I started last year after the summer finale and never had the guts to actually post LOL. But I'm trying to find as many ways possible to procrastinate on finals so I figured I'd yolo and post some of what I have. This is pretty much an AU version of 6B, although it does follow some of what actually happened. This is like my first time writing fanfiction/letting people read something I've written and I lightweight haven't taken a real English class in like two years so sorry if it isn't that good lmao 😅

(fun fact: way back when last summer when I was writing this I wrote that Emily worked at the Salk Institute and in the show that's where she lied to the others about where she worked haha idk I just thought that was cool heh)

* * *

Laughter sounded along the halls of Rosewood High School, joined with excited conversations and shouts. The hallway was filled with teenagers enjoying their lunch break before their next class. Most of them were in groups or pairs, laughing about something, maybe about something that the teacher said in class or just an inside joke between friends. There was one blonde girl who had just opened her locker, and slammed a few books in, obviously frustrated, as her boyfriend was talking to her. Besides that though, there was this vibrant energy permeating through the halls as the kids walked by gossiping and giggling. It was Thursday afternoon, one more day till the weekend, but it might as well have been Friday. The excitement was palpable, even the teachers were ready for the week to be over, eager for the weekend. All of them except one.

Alison Rollins (née DiLaurentis) was stressed to say the least, and it wasn't because of the pile of ungraded papers sitting in front of her. This afternoon her friends were coming into town, it would be the first time all five of them would be together since her wedding. Normally this would have been fantastic news and she would have been as excited as the kids outside. But it wasn't like they were coming to celebrate Hanna and Caleb's recent engagement, they were coming back for something much more unpleasant.

For the last five years her sister Charlotte had been seeking help in a psychiatric facility. With the aid of several hardworking doctors, her husband Elliot included, she had made great strides towards improvement. Elliot and some of the other doctors felt that it was time for her to be released and of course Ali was advocating for it as well. Staying back in Rosewood to care for Charlotte had been one of the best decisions she'd made in her life. She had been able to reconnect with Charlotte and found herself a sister that doubled as her best friend. Thanks to her doctors she had become a kind and compassionate individual, and Ali couldn't be more proud of her. When she'd heard the news she had been so excited that she had Elliot immediately being remodeling their guest room for her, even painting it lavender, Charlotte's favorite color.

However, there was another issue at hand. The harmful things that Charlotte had done in the past worried some of the board members of the hospital and some of them were arguing that she would be a danger to the civilians if she was released. Because of this they were going to the court to have a hearing where her doctors would give statements to the judge. Her friends had been asked to come in and give statements as well because of the things that Charlotte had done to them. Although she and her friends had maintained strong relationships over the years, they always avoided talking about Charlotte. Ali sensed that they were still struggling coming to terms with what they had been through and so she chose to keep silent about Charlotte's progress. Now when she knew that she had to speak up and talk with them about this situation she found herself at a loss. There was so much left unsaid, she wouldn't even know where to begin.

The door to her classroom swung open interrupting her from her thoughts. Ali looked up blankly to see a tall thin dark-haired girl dressed in soccer pants and an old faded sweatshirt standing in the doorway. It looked more like she was ready to go to bed, rather than to go to school. "Hi Mrs. Rollins," the girl said flatly standing by the doorway. "You wanted to see me?"

Ali resisted the urge to groan in exhaustion as she slowly remembered that she had asked Lauren, one of her students, to come in and meet with her. Since the beginning of the year, Lauren had been a very bright and hardworking young girl who always came into class eager to learn. The essays she wrote were very insightful and thought provoking, showing Alison that she had a thorough understanding of the books they read. Up until recently Ali had considered her to be one of her most successful students. In the past few weeks, though, Ali had noticed a drastic change in her behavior. Nowadays Lauren hardly ever showed up to school, today was actually the first time Ali had seen her this entire week. On the rare occasion that she did make her way to school she would come in late and exhausted and sit in the back of the classroom without saying a word for the entire duration of class.

At first Ali had thought maybe she was just going through something and she'd come out of it, but as time went on and she realized things were not getting better, she decided it was time for her to take initiative and do something about it. But today was not the day to do this. She was so overwhelmed with everything else going on in her life, she didn't know if she really wanted to deal with this issue right now. Briefly she considered sending her away, but then again she never knew the next time Lauren would end up coming to school.

"Yes, that's right," Ali said sitting up straight and beckoning for her to come over. "Take a seat Lauren; we need to talk."

For a moment Lauren just stood there scowling as she fiddled with the straps of her backpack before begrudgingly walking over and pulling up a chair to Ali's desk. As Lauren plopped down into her seat, tossing her backpack to the ground Ali noticed again how she was dressed. It wasn't unusual for her students to dress lazily, especially now that winter was here; but Lauren had always been very put together, frequently wearing expensive and trendy clothes. She used to walk with her head held high, moving with grace and fluidity. The way she had just dragged herself over and sat slouched in her chair just seemed so unlike her.

"Look Lauren you're not in trouble or anything," Ali began softly trying to put her at ease. "I just wanted to talk to 've been missing a lot of classes lately and when you do come, you don't participate or turn in your assignments. You didn't even write the essay on the Scarlett Letter last week. What's going on honey? Is everything okay?

Lauren crossed her arms over her chest tapping her foot vigorously. She focused her eyes on something in the far corner, averting Alison's gaze. "I'm just fine," she replied snidely. "Don't worry about it. I've just been really busy with basketball and stuff."

"Last time I checked basketball practice was after school," Ali retorted with a frown. One of Ali's many skills was the ability to read people. She was very attentive and picked up on little details that others might not have noticed. That was why she could tell that Lauren wasn't being honest with her. It was all in her body language, the way she pursed her lips and wouldn't look Alison in the eye.

Lauren shrugged and looked to the ground as she began to tap her foot more rapidly now. She was so restless, constantly fidgeting and moving around in her seat.

"Sweetie, if something is going on I can help you. You just need to tell me what's happening or there's nothing I can do for you," Ali said the desperation in her voice painstakingly noticeable.

"I told you I'm fine," she reiterated tossing her dark brown hair out of her face in annoyance. "So if you're done wasting my time can I go now?"

Ali was never one to give up, but she was at her wits end with Lauren and frankly she had more pressing things to deal with right now than arguing with a stubborn 16 year old. She wasn't going to sit here and waste her time with a child that refused to give her anything to work with. Nonetheless, she knew what had to be done and she wouldn't back down without a fight. If Lauren didn't want to tell her anything then that was fine, but she wasn't going to let her get away with this kind of behavior. "No, absolutely not," Ali replied shaking her head. "You say everything''s fine, right? Well then I expect to see you in class everyday from now on," Ali said sternly. "And you should plan on spending your lunch periods in here with me until you've made up all the work you've missed in the last few weeks."

"That's bullshit!" Lauren exclaimed looking up at Ali for the first time that day, her eyes widening in anger. "I'm not gonna do it." Up close and face to face, Ali was taken aback by how hollow and gaunt Lauren's face looked. Her normally tan skin had adopted a pale hue; her eyes bloodshot and dark-rimmed as if she hadn't slept in days. She had always been quite skinny from playing sports, but at least there had been a little muscle on her. Now she just looked scrawny and fatigued.

"Well, you don't exactly have a choice," Ali said trying to keep her cool. She could feel the old flame of her fighting spirit flaring up inside of her and it took all she had to resist saying something spiteful right back to her. "Lauren, I don't think you understand the severity of this situation, you have a C in my class. There's no way you'll be valedictorian or get into any top colleges if you keep this up."

Lauren snorted in response. "Yeah, because that's such a big deal, right? God forbid I get bad grades for once in my life." She picked up her backpack and swung it over her shoulder as she stood up. "I don't know about you, but I'm done here."

As she started towards the door Ali was left speechless. She had figured it might not be easy to get through to Lauren, but she never would have imagined she would react so incorrigibly. Especially when Ali was giving her this option to actually make up the work, rather than straight up give her a zero. "Lauren stop," Ali called her voice more confident and commanding now. Lauren gripped the doorknob in her hand and turned around to face Alison. "Don't you dare walk out that door, trust me, you will not be happy with the consequences."

Lauren's hand dropped from the doorknob and she turned around to face Alison her eyes narrow and rigid with anger and it was in that moment that Alison knew she had lost all hope with her. "You're not my mother; you can't make me do anything. If I want to go, then I'll go."

"Lauren, I'm warning you right now; if you leave I will have no choice but to fail you," Ali said firmly.

"You won't," Lauren retorted narrowing her eyes further.

Ali raised an eyebrow at her in response. "Watch me."

For a split second Lauren's face went blank, but then she smiled back Alison so audaciously that it made her blood boil. "You actually think I give a shit? Go ahead; I honestly have more important things to be doing."

"Fine," Ali said with a shrug. "You can walk out that door right now and never come back if that's what you want, but it won't do you any good. Whatever problems you have are still going to be there and if you don't deal with them things are only going to get worse for you."

"That's rich coming from you," Lauren muttered. "Why don't you stop worrying about whatever "problems" I have and focus on your issues instead?"

Ali's forehead creased in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Seriously?" she said with raising her eyebrows with that smug little smirk again. Lauren let out a dry laugh. "Look all I'm saying is I'm not the one who's trying to get my fucked up psycho ass sister released from a goddamn nut house. What's she going to do if she's free? Kill someone again? Maybe you should be a bit more concerned about that instead of bothering me."

Lauren's words were so bitter and acerbic, stinging at Alison's heart. She could handle whatever hateful things her student could say about her, but when it came to her sister it really hurt. More than anything, though, it made her angry. Lauren had no idea what Charlotte had gone through in her life; there was no way she could even begin to imagine the pain Charlotte suffered from. How could she? She was just a spoiled little rich brat who had only ever gotten everything she wanted. Where did she find the guts to say such disgusting things straight to her teacher's face?

Seeing that Alison had no response for her Lauren scoffed shaking her head and left, slamming the door shut on her way out. Ali stared at the literary devices poster that hung on the back of her classroom door wondering where the sweet girl she'd known in the beginning of the year had gone and how she'd become such a spiteful and angry person. She hung her head, massaging her temples. Her head was spinning and she felt physically sick. Over the last five years she had grown so close to her sister; she knew her so well and she had been with her each step of the way as she had gotten the help she needed. It had certainly not been easy, and it was a long tiresome process for the both of them, but in the end it had paid off. No longer did Charlotte have the desire to "play the game." She just wanted to come home and stay with her sister and brother-in-law; to have the family the two of them never had while growing up.

But in the back of her mind, there was still that uncomfortable feeling. The one telling her it was a mistake. The thing is, what Lauren had said was kind of true. Alison knew it's exactly what her friends were thinking and were probably going to tell her when they met up in the afternoon as well. What if they were right? What if Charlotte did hurt someone again? No. She couldn't think like this; if only one person was going to stand by Charlotte's side it had to be her. Alison had seen her sister make so so much progress; Elliot said the pace at which she'd worked to get better was unparalleled and he'd never seen anything like it. Charlotte worked hard because she recognized her mistakes and she wanted to fix them, but why couldn't anyone else see that?

Regardless, Alison had faith in her friends. They had forgiven her for the way she had treated them, and the outright awful things she had done. If they could find it in their hearts to give her a second chance then she was confident that they would do the same for Charlotte. It might take a little persuading, but Ali was determined to give Charlotte the life she deserved.

The bell rang signifying the end of lunch period, startling Alison who jumped in her seat. She threw a glance at the clock and upon seeing that lunch was over she let out a sigh. There was no way she was going to get through two more classes, especially with the juniors. Her freshman were easy to deal with; they made her mornings a breeze, but the juniors were such troublemakers. Ali loved all her students, certainly some more than others, but the class of 2017 really made that hard sometimes. All the teachers collectively agreed that they were the worst yet.

As her students filed in Ali greeted them all with a smile. Some smiled back and said hello and others would simply ignore her. She would remember that when she was grading their essays. Once the kids had seated themselves she turned on the powerpoint so they could get started on vocab. Normally Ali would guide them through it and do exercises where they came up with analogies and synonyms and antonyms, but today she was exhausted; they were smart enough to figure it out on their own. For the rest of class she had them get in discussion groups to talk about Breakfast at Tiffany's, which was the book they were reading this month. She gave them worksheets to complete while she sat at her desk just thinking about how crazy this day had been and how it was only going to get crazier.

When the bell rang Ali could not have been more relieved. She only had one more class, AP lit, and then she was done. She would go visit Charlotte, maybe get some time to see Elliot, and then she'd be off to meet her friends. Despite her apprehensions, Ali was actually really excited to see them. It had been far too long since the five of them had gotten together and there was so much to catch up on. Thinking about it that way helped ease the anxiousness bubbling in her stomach.

Just like with her previous class, Ali displayed the powerpoint as she went around stamping their homework. She was especially strict about vocab with the juniors because she wanted to prepare them for the SATs. Sometimes they complained that it was too much, but they'd thank her later when they nailed that critical reading section. As she made her way through the rows of desks making small talk with her students she noticed one desk near the end of the row to the right that was empty, Lauren's desk. Ali hadn't expected her to come to class after that outburst just an hour or so ago, but it still bothered her that she didn't know what was going on with her troubled student. She hated not knowing things and not being able to figure people out. It drove her crazy.

Glancing at the empty desk blankly Ali found herself wondering about Lauren again. Where was she? What was she doing? None of this made sense to her; what could make one of the most hardworking and intelligent students in the entire school change so drastically? Lauren had previously been a top contender for valedictorian, but at this rate it seemed more likely that she was going to drop out of school than win any honors.

Jane, one of Lauren's best friends, noticed the way Alison was looking at the empty desk, probably wondering the same thing she was. "She left at lunch," Jane said interrupting Ali from her thoughts.

"Oh," was all Alison could manage to say in response. She considered asking Jane if she knew where Lauren had gone, but she was still furious with her and she quite honestly didn't care. Lauren was consciously making a choice to jeopardize her future and she had tried to help, only to have dirt kicked in her face.

She had finished stamping the kids' homework and most of them were finishing up the vocab so she displayed today's assignment on the computer screen. Last night she'd finally finished grading all of their essays so she thought today they'd go over some of the common mistakes she saw, then they'd finish the class with a poetry analysis. "Okay guys, why don't you all get out your essays on the Scarlett Letter and we'll go over them," Alison announced as the powerpoint came into focus. "Overall the essays were good, but one thing I noticed is that a lot of you guys are still relying too heavily on plot summary rather than analysis of the prompt. Summarizing the book only tells me that you read it, but not that you understand it. How do you guys think you could fix that?"

After her discussion with the kids she had them review their essays with a partner and find a section of their essays that they could expand on. After that when they were off writing their analyses Alison finally had the opportunity to sit down to get some peace of mind. She took a sip from her water bottle trying to plan out how her encounter with her friends would go and what she'd say to them. However, she kept getting distracted whenever she looked up and saw Lauren's empty desk. Her mind kept wandering back to their conversation earlier and now that she had gotten past her anger she was honestly just worried about Lauren. The way she acted earlier reminded Alison of herself when she was younger and the thought of one of her own students becoming the person she used to be was frightening. Granted the things she'd done in the past were worse than just insulting her teachers, it was the thought that Lauren could do those things that made her uneasy. No, she had to do something. No matter what Lauren said, she had to stop whatever was going on with her before things got out of hand.

When the bell finally rang Alison let out a silent sigh of relief. She just wanted to put this whole morning behind her and move on to her next task, but first she had to talk to someone. "Hey Jane, can you stay back for a minute?" Ali asked as the girl looked up at her from packing up her things, eyes wide in confusion.

"Um, yeah sure," she replied hesitantly. She slung her backpack across one shoulder, making her way down the aisle to Ali's desk as the other kids left. "Did I do something or…?"

Ali shook her head with a small grin. It was funny how the kids always assumed they were in trouble when she needed to talk to them. "No don't worry nothing's wrong," Ali assured her waving her hand absent-mindedly. "I was just wondering if you knew where Lauren is. Or maybe you know what's going on with her and why she has been missing so much school?"

Jane looked down to the ground tightening her grip around her books. "No I have no idea," she said shaking her head dejectedly. "Lauren and I aren't really talking anymore."

"Did you guys have a fight?" Ali asked her eyebrows knitted in concern.

"No, no not at all," Jane responded shaking her head. "She actually hasn't talked to our whole group in weeks. Like when we text her, she never replies. And if she ever does come to school she just ignores us and sleeps the whole time." She paused for a moment and her forehead creased in thought. "It's just really weird and it's not like Lauren at all. You know, she's missed so many leadership classes that Mr. Lopez says they're going to kick her out."

"Well that could be what she needs," Ali said thoughtfully as she leaned her elbows against her desk resting her chin on her locked fingers. "It's certainly harsh, but she will eventually need to face the consequences of her decisions. It'll be a reality check for her."

Jane frowned, shaking her head again. "You don't understand Mrs. Rollins. Lauren is our class president, if they kick her out of leadership then we're screwed. I don't know if you've noticed, we have the least spirited and unmotivated class ever. Lauren's the only one who actually really cares and tries to do something for us. During homecoming week she got like six hours of sleep total because she was staying up all night finishing decorations, and choreographing our lip sync or whatever and she never complained because she loves it."

"But if she doesn't care anymore then why don't you give her president position to someone else who deserves it?" Ali questioned narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Because she still cares," Jane said in defense of her friend. "I know she does. Being in leadership for her isn't just about the popularity or being in charge. Lauren genuinely wants to make something memorable for our class and leave a legacy behind and she's going to do it. I believe in her; she just needs to get it together."

It was actually kind of nice to know that even though Lauren was a huge brat she still had friends like Jane who had faith in her. Ali knew how important it was to have good friends when times got tough. She just wished Lauren could see that, maybe it would help pull her out of this rut she was stuck in.

"Alright, thanks Jane," Ali said with a gentle smile. "I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, you can go now."

"It's fine. Everyone's been asking about Lauren these days," Jane mumbled as she slipped her backpack over her other shoulder. She sighed deeply before looking up at Alison with a smile. "Bye Mrs. Rollins, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Jane," Ali said with a wave. "Don't forget to study for your vocab quiz tomorrow."

"I won't," Jane called before she disappeared out the door.

The door swung closed and Ali glanced at the clock knowing she had to go. Usually she would stay back in case the kids needed extra help or she needed to get work done before she went to see Charlotte, but today she had to meet her friends as well so there was no time to waste. She double checked to make sure she had everything, and then she was heading out, locking the classroom door behind her.

* * *

When she arrived at the hospital she signed in at the front desk and received a visitor's badge from the rather unfriendly lady working today. While the rest of the staff was generally kind and amiable, Ali found that the front desk ladies always seemed to be irritated and acted like they hated their jobs. It was so annoying, if they didn't like dealing with people then they should find another job. She had to remember to ask Elliot to fire them later.

Speaking of Elliot, as Ali passed his office she noticed the door was closed, which meant he was probably busy with a patient. Ali smiled to herself as she noted this. Elliot was easily one of the mot popular doctors in the facility and he'd done a lot of good work with many of the patients, including Charlotte. He had been her doctor for the first few years and had done a lot to help her. However, when he had married Alison they both thought that for ethical reasons it would be best for her to change doctors.

Their marriage had certainly been impulsive to say the least. Although she'd known Elliot for a while, they'd only been dating for a year or so before he proposed. His grandmother had been very sick and the doctors believed she had only a short time left to live. Her last wish was to see her grandson get married, which led Elliot to propose out of the blue one day while they were out to dinner. Ali had been so taken aback, but for some reason she found herself saying yes. Alison life had been nothing short of crazy, but with Elliot she had stability. After all that she had been through, she found that was one thing she really needed.

It certainly helped that Charlotte really liked him and that he also got along with her friends The wedding had been small given the short period of time they'd had to work with. Mostly it had just been family and close friends in attendance. Although her father chose not to come, Jason had been there and Charlotte had been granted permission to go, albeit under supervision. Despite their hectic schedules, Aria, Spencer, Hanna, and Emily had all managed to come too and that meant the world to her; much more so than her father coming. Those four were not just her closest friends, they were family.

The wedding had been almost a year and a half ago now and she found that in that time she had been happier than she'd been in such a long time. Elliot was unlike the other boys she had dated; mostly because he was a huge nerd. He was really dorky and goofy, which had never really been her type, but she liked it. He never failed to make her laugh and he was safe and reliable; she knew he'd never let her down. She'd seen that when he had been working with Charlotte. No matter how difficult and resistant she had been, Elliot had never given up on her. He never gave up on his patients and always believed in them unconditionally. Maybe it was that unwavering faith that made Alison fall in love with him.

Charlotte wasn't in her room when Ali arrived, so she just let herself in. She sat down on Charlotte's bed and checked her phone. She had about an hour here with Charlotte till she had to leave to meet the girls. None of them had messaged that they were here so she figured that hey hadn't reached Rosewood yet.

Ali took a look around Charlotte's room, thinking to herself how she was so thankful that the hospital was nothing like Radley. It was so much nicer, with a large outdoor facility with soccer fields and basketball courts, a video game lounge in the common room, and the best part was that they allowed Ali to bring Charlotte gifts. It was amazing what the little things like a sudoku book or a new magazine could do to help.

The door swung open and Charlotte entered the room, smiling widely upon seeing Ali. "Hey!" she said excitedly. "Sorry," I didn't mean to make you wait, but I got held up in ceramics."

"No, don't worry about it," Ali said reassuringly. "I wasn't here long. How is your project coming along?" Charlotte had found a new love for art during her time at in the hospital. It really helped channel her emotions and occasional violent tendencies. Ali was planning to buy a ton of art supplies for her when she moved back in. Recently she'd been really into ceramics; she'd started with the basic bowls and vases and even made a few coasters, but she found them too easy. Right now she was working on a teapot, although from what she told Ali it was proving to be quite a challenge.

"Well, I kind of messed up and one part of the clay came out really thin and it couldn't support the weight above it," she replied with a dejected sigh. "I don't know, I think I'll just try again tomorrow."

"That's good, you shouldn't give up," Ali said with a smile. "How are you feeling today?"

"It was great actually!" Charlotte's enthusiasm was contagious and Ali found herself becoming just as excited. "Yeah, I had a good session with my doctor this morning and she says I'm doing really well. She says she has a good feeling about the hearing."

Ali's face fell just slightly at the mention of the hearing, but she quickly caught herself. Charlotte, being as perceptive as she was, didn't miss it either.

"Hey," she said softly, putting her hand on Ali's knee. "I know what you're thinking, but you don't need to worry. It's going to be okay." She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "Ali, I need to ask you something."

"Yeah, yeah of course," Ali said. "What is it?"

Charlotte remained quiet, fiddling with her hands. "I-I was wondering if you could bring your friends to here before the hearing. I want to talk to them; there's stuff they need to know before they give their statements and they need to hear it from me."

Ali's stomach churned with anxiety at the idea. As if she hadn't already been distressed enough about meeting the girls. Coming back to Rosewood was one thing for them, but she knew they were not ready to face Charlotte yet.

Her sister was waiting expectantly for her answer and Ali couldn't let her down when she was looking at her with so much hope in her eyes, so she forced herself to smile. "I'll talk to them when I see them today," she said lacing her voice with false reassurance. "I'm sure they'll say yes."

"Thanks Ali," she said quietly. "That really means a lot to me."

Ali smiled back at her, hoping she'd be able to mask her dread through it. Going into the hearing Charlotte needed to be confident and the last thing Ali wanted was for her nervousness spreading to her.

However, Charlotte knew her younger sister well, perhaps even better than Ali knew herself. Like how she always clenched her jaw when she was worried about something, which is what she'd been doing ever since she got here. She'd noticed Ali seemed a little off right from the beginning; she just had a feeling that something was on her mind.

"Ali," Charlotte began, rubbing her knee again. "What's wrong? Is something bothering you?"

"Huh?" Ali asked, her eyes wide. Could Charlotte seriously tell how worried she was? God, when had she become so transparent?"

"You just seemed a little weird when I got here," Charlotte explained. "Is everything okay?"

"No, I'm totally fine," Ali said with a little laugh.

"Ali, come on," Charlotte said. "I'm your sister. I can tell when something's going on. What's wrong kiddo?"

Ali sighed, running a hand though her hair. She didn't want to worry Charlotte by telling her the truth so she did what she always did best and lied. "I'm just stressed about work," Ali confessed. "I have this one student, she's a really smart kid and she works really hard, but then suddenly she just stopped turning in assignments and doesn't show up to class. I'm really worried about her." This wasn't technically a lie since was actually very concerned about Lauren. But she still hated not being honest with Charlotte.

"Oh," Charlotte murmured furrowing her eyebrows. "Have you talked to her about it?"

Ali sighed exasperatedly, becoming frustrated with the whole situation all over again. "Yeah, I tried talking to her today, but she just blew me off. Like she just walked out of the classroom. What kind of student does that? And she gave me so much attitude, my god, she was so disrespectful. It's all just so weird because she never used to be like this, she always used to be so sweet."

Charlotte was quiet for a moment, taking time to process what Ali had told her. "Can I give you some advice?" she said finally. Ali nodded eagerly, she was ready for anything that would help at this point. Remember how I was five years ago? When I thought that the situation was hopeless and treatment would be pointless? You were the one who encouraged me to seek help and kept pushing me to try and get better. Even when I was resistant and I wanted to quit, you were the one who never let me admit defeat. Throughout it all you were compassionate and patient with me, which admittedly wasn't always easy." Charlotte laughed a little, patting Ali's knee. "What I'm trying to say is you shouldn't give up on that girl; she might just need your help, even if she's reluctant to admit it. If she really is going through something I know that there's no better person to help her than you."

Sometimes she forgot how wise Charlotte was. She had basically vocalized what Ali had been thinking all day. She just didn't know how to help Lauren when she barely even came to her class. It was just so hard because she didn't understand Lauren at all, and it bothered her so much. She always understood people, it was what she was good at. Knowing that Charlotte believed her helped a great deal more than she'd thought it would, though. "Thanks Charlotte," Ali said as she felt herself cheering up a bit. "I think I really needed to hear that today."

Charlotte smiled as Ali rested her head on her shoulder. Finally, all those years spent wishing for an older sister had paid off. She was so grateful to have Charlotte in her life. To have someone who was always there for her, who no matter what she did or said, would still be there.

For a moment they just sat there like that, with Charlotte stroking Ali's head soothingly. It was the first time all day that she'd actually felt relaxed. That was why when Hanna texted that she was at The Brew she didn't feel that familiar pit of anxiety she'd been carrying around all day.

"You have to go?" Charlotte asked as she saw Ali staring at her phone blankly.

Ali nodded. "Yeah, the girls are at The Brew. I'll make sure to tell them that you want to see them." She gathered her purse and stood up. "Bye Charlotte," she said, leaning down to hug her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Ali," Charlotte said. Although she was smiling, Ali knew that it was always hard for Charlotte to say goodbye. Hopefully, soon they wouldn't have to keep saying goodbye like this anymore.

She waved goodbye to Charlotte before closing the door to her room and heading out down the hall. Having finished with his patient, Elliot was standing outside his office, leaning against the wall as he talked to another doctor. As Ali approached he saw her coming and his friend headed off into his own office and Elliot turned to Ali.

"Hi beautiful," he said leaning down to give her a quick kiss. "Did you have a good visit with Charlotte today?"

"Yeah," Ali said nodding with a smile as she recounted their visit. "Much better than my day at school."

"Oh?" he said raising an eyebrow. "Something happen?"

"You remember that girl, Lauren, I was talking about the other day?" Ali asked.

Elliot nodded, vaguely recalling Ali saying something about somebody with that same name. "Okay well today I asked her to come see me at lunch so we could talk about what's been going on. I thought I would be helping her, but she totally freaked out and stormed out of my classroom, only after telling me to mind my own business and making some very ignorant comments about Charlotte being a "pyscho" in a "nut house"."

Elliot shook his head in discontent. He really hated when people made insensitive comments about mental illnesses because these were serious issues that his patients dealt with, not words that should be used to put someone down. "You should speak with the principal; she sounds like she's way out of line."

"Whatever," Ali mumbled. "Just forget about her. I have to ask you something. Is it okay for Charlotte to see the girls before the hearing? She just wants to talk to them."

"I think that should be fine," Elliot said thoughtfully. "It could be good for her and the girls as well to clear the air before they give their statements."

"Okay good," Ali said more confident now that she had Elliot's assurance. "Oh and speaking of Lauren, that reminds me, you need to fire the lady that's working the front desk today. Actually, you should fire all of them; they're very rude. But especially the one that's working today."

Elliot failed to see the correlation between Lauren and the front desk ladies, or why Ali wanted to fire them all for that matter. But apparently it made sense in her head so he went along with it. "What's wrong with Martha?" he asked in confusion.

"Well for starters, her name is Martha."

"Alright then, I'll make sure to get on that," Elliot said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

Even though she knew he was joking, she just liked hearing him say that. "Okay, I'm going to go see the girls then," Ali said as she skimmed through the most recent notifications from her and the others' group message. "We're going out for dinner afterwards, do you think you'll be fine making something on your own?"

Elliot grimaced and laughed. "Seriously, you want me to cook? I think I'll just order a pizza instead."

"Alright then, I'll see you at home," she said shaking her head with a laugh. She gave him a kiss goodbye and then she was off to her next engagement, feeling more courageous than she had been all day.

* * *

It took Ali exactly 21 minutes to get to The Brew, because of course today would be the one day that there was no traffic on the freeway. In the time that it had taken for her to get there, Aria and Spencer had arrived as well. She only knew this because she was standing outside watching them from the window. She'd turned her phone off on the drive over to avoid notifications from the group text. Emily wasn't there and that made her a little uneasy because Alison had been counting on her. Even if the other girls wouldn't agree, she had faith in Emily. She turned her attention back to the girls inside, laughing to herself as she saw Spencer's new bangs. She swore they looked better in real life than the pictures, which Ali was now learning wasn't true.

Deciding that she'd wasted enough time sitting around, Ali took a look at her reflection in the window. She fixed her hair parting and opened the door with a graceful swing. When she entered Hanna was the first one to see her, waving her over to where the girls were sitting.

"Hey guys!" Ali said cheerfully, bending down to give Hanna and Aria a hug. She took a seat next to Spencer on the couch and gave her a hug too.

"What a coincidence we were just talking about you," Spencer said with a small laugh.

"Oh really?" Ali asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Yeah," Hanna said. "We were talking shit."

The way Hanna said it made it sound like she was actually serious, but Alison knew better and she just shook her head and laughed, ignoring the nagging feeling that it might be true.

"We were just saying it's totally like you to be fashionably late," Aria explained and Ali felt her nerves relax just slightly.

It was true; Ali was well known for making an entrance. "Yeah I guess," Ali replied with a chuckle. "It would've worked better if Em was here though. Where is she by the way?"

"Oh they lost her luggage at the airport so she's running late," Spencer replied. "She's going to her house to drop her stuff off, but she should be here soon."

"Yeah, she messaged the group text," Hanna added. "Didn't you see it?"

"No," my phone died Ali replied hastily. She didn't know why she had lied; she really had no reason to. Must have been force of habit.

Spencer, always being prepared, rifled through her purse, pulling out a phone charger. "You need a charger?"

"No, no I'm good," Ali replied shaking her head in dismissal. She suddenly felt kind of uncomfortable, so she stood up abruptly. "I should go order."

"Don't worry about it," Aria said, motioning for her to sit down. "We ordered for you and Emily already." Ali took her seat again and Aria handed her an iced vanilla latte, her usual. She smiled as she accepted the drink, thanking Aria. Even after all these years it was nice how they still remembered little things about each other.

"So what did I miss while I was gone?" Ali asked, eager to hear the gossip and stories they had to share.

"Nothing much," Hanna replied with a shrug. "Mostly we were just making fun of Spencer's hair."

Ali grinned, ready to share her own thoughts on Spencer's new hair, when Spencer put one hand up silencing. "Don't even think about it," she muttered in annoyance. "Seriously, I have a fellowship in The White House, but all anyone has been able to talk about is my hair, which will grow back by the way."

Ali took a refreshing sip of her drink, thinking about how crazy it was that Spencer actually worked in The White House. She'd always talked about it when they were kids, but now it was a reality. Well, she wasn't exactly working yet. Right now she was in a fellowship program that trained graduates in preparation for federal employment, which was still pretty cool. It had even inspired her mom to get involved in politics and run for senate.

With the effects of the caffeine kicking in, Ali felt more rejuvenated and full of the energy that she definitely needed today. While the other girls were chattering away and talking about their flights, Ali was contemplating her next move. Did she start by talking about the hearing and asking them to take it easy on Charlotte? Or did she start by telling them that Charlotte wanted to meet with them? This was all so stressful and all the anticipation was preventing her from enjoying the time with her friends.

She put the thought out of her head and tuned into the conversation. Hanna was telling the girls a story about how she and Caleb had nearly missed their flight earlier, because they were getting Chick Fil A at a terminal on the opposite side of the airport. While Hanna's story was funny and all, it made Ali more sad than anything. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been in an airport, let alone left Rosewood. She and Elliot hadn't even had a honeymoon because neither of them felt comfortable leaving Charlotte. Elliot always said consistency was key in a patient's recovery and Ali tried her best to provide that for her sister. She didn't regret her decision one bit, but sometimes she couldn't help but feel that she was missing out.

Her bitter thoughts were disrupted, though, when she saw Emily outside, parking her car by the curb. She stepped out of her silver Corolla flipping her hair over her shoulder. She'd been driving the same car since high school, claiming that it was "reliable." Alison would never be caught dead driving a Toyota of all cars, but she thought that the car really suited Emily.

When Emily walked into The Brew, she caused everyone's head to turn. She'd always been one of, if not, the most beautiful girl that Ali had ever seen and that had not changed. What had changed was Emily herself; of her four friends, the time in college had affected Emily the most, partly in fact to the premature passing of her father in her freshman year. The year following had been terribly difficult for Emily, but she had been able to overcome it with the help of her friends. Now she had grown to be so confident and everywhere she went she commanded people's attention.

"Hey guys," she greeted brightly before collapsing onto the couch beside Ali. "You will not believe the crazy day I had," she said giving Ali a quick hug from the side.

"No wait," Hanna said putting up her hand. "You have to hear about what happened to me and Caleb at the airport in New York."

Emily rolled her eyes and the other girls groaned simultaneously as Hanna started her pointless, unnecessarily long story over again from the beginning.

As Hanna babbled on, Ali took another long sip of her drink, wishing it was tequila instead. She'd need it if she was going to sit through Hanna's story again. But that wasn't really what was bothering her; she just didn't want to do this. She didn't want to ask them to vouch for Charlotte because no matter how much she hoped, she knew deep down in her heart that they would say no. They still harbored a good deal of animosity towards Charlotte and had never truly been able to move past what she had put them through. They'd never said it out loud to her, but sometimes the silence was more telling.

"Hey you okay?" Emily asked softly, touching Ali's thigh. The sudden touch brought Ali back down to earth and she smiled at Emily; she was always so thoughtful.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ali said, still smiling as she patted Emily's hand resting atop her thigh.

"You sure? You seem a little out of it."

"Hey, what's going on with you two?" Aria asked with a grin. She'd been so bored with Hanna's story and out of coffee, so when she saw Ali and Emily whispering about she decided to tease them a little.

"Nothing," Ali said flashing Aria her signature smirk. "I was just telling Em about how Hanna's stories are always dumb and boring."

"Are you serious?!" Hanna exclaimed her eyes wide in disbelief. "All of Emily's stories literally end with 'yeah, that's why everything's better in California.'"

"That's because it's true!" Emily contested vehemently, although she was laughing. "California is actually the best state, that's an undisputed fact."

"Not even," Aria retorted, making a wry face as she remembered that summer she'd spent in LA. "It's so hot and humid and the traffic is awful. Plus it's so dirty."

"Okay, you were there for like barely one summer," Emily protested. "You hardly got to experience the true Cali culture."

The girls all burst into laughter at Emily's passionate defense of her new home and from there the conversation quickly turned into the girls sharing anecdotes from work. Ali had always known that her friends were destined for great things, but it still amazed her just how successful they had become just one year after graduation.

Spencer wasn't the only one who had found amazing opportunities coming out of college. Hanna had been interning with this one designer, Anna Wintour, and had been offered an assistant position upon graduating that she had eagerly accepted. They always joked that she was living The Devil Wears Prada, but Hanna assured them that her boss was even more horrible than Miranda Priestly. She loved her job though, she was constantly on her toes and traveling all around the world. In the past year she'd been to Paris, Milan, Tokyo and so many more. Not to mention she was always meeting celebrities, much to the envy of the other girls. Aria had initially been majoring in photography at SCAD, but she hated the way she was graded on something was so subjective. This epiphany led her back to her first love of writing and she had transferred to Northwestern for their creating writing program. Now she worked as an editor for a publishing company and she was enjoying every minute of it. She was actually supposed to be working with Ezra to help him publish his first book. Although the two had broken up before she'd left for college, they'd maintained a solid friendship throughout it all. Ali always thought that they'd end up back together considering Aria had never had a serious relationship while in college and Ezra had been single for the last five years. And lastly there was Emily, who now worked at the Salk Institute as a research assistant in their Molecular Neurobiology Lab. She was always trying to explain to Ali what it was exactly that she did, but biology had never been her best subject and it just went over her head. The basic idea was that she was researching cures for diseases, and there was something to do with stem cells. Ali thought the job was so fitting for Emily. With her heart of gold of course she would have a career dedicated to helping others. Ali considered Emily's job to be the most impressive out of all her friends, but she was probably biased.

As she listened to her friends sharing stories about their new lives, Ali found herself feeling insignificant, because she once again had nothing to contribute. Having stayed in Rosewood for college she didn't even have wild college stories about raging frat parties or late night taco runs like her friends did. The girls all had these fun, crazy stories about the things that happened to them, and the most exciting thing in Alison's life recently had been watching the new episode of The Bachelor on Monday. How was that supposed to compare with Hanna helping design a dress for Gigi Hadid or The First Lady complimenting Spencer's blazer?

What really ate at her though was how that used to be her. The one with the fascinating tales that were so unimaginable they couldn't possibly be true. Even if some (or most of them) had been made up she just missed the attention and the way her friends had been so enthralled by what she had to say.

Ali was so deep in thought trying to think of some way to make her boring life sound interesting that she hadn't even realized her friends were talking to her.

"Hey, earth to Ali," Spencer said, waving her hand vigorously in front of Ali's face. "Did you even hear what Hanna said?"

"Huh?" Ali mumbled, glancing up to see all eyes on her.

"I was just saying how you're not going to be the only married one in this group anymore," Hanna said in a teasing tone.

"You know," Emily began. "I never in a million years would have imagined that you'd be the first one of us to get married, Ali."

"Right?" Spencer replied with an amused laugh. "I always thought you would end up in France or something."

"Yeah, just somewhere super exotic and mysterious with boys chasing after you," Aria added.

Alison knew that her friends meant no harm by those comments, but she was still slightly offended. It wasn't that absurd that she wanted to settle down and stay lowkey after what she'd been through. Brushing it off, she offered a graceful smile and said, "Well, I mean I'd love to travel, Em and I still have to go to Paris, but you know my family is here and I think this is the right place for me to be."

At the mention of her family, Ali noticed how the girls immediately changed moods, looking away uncomfortably or fiddling with their cups. Ali was tired of this, the way they always avoided talking about Charlotte who had been a huge part of her life for the last five years. They couldn't keep running from this issue, that never did any good. If none of her friends wanted to come out and talk about it, then she would.

"Look you guys, I'm not going to ask you to lie at the hearing," Ali began. "But Charlotte does want to talk to you guys and all I'm going to ask of you is that you hear her out." Aria and Hanna exchanged a glance that Ali's watchful eyes didn't miss, but other than that no one said anything. "I understand if you guys aren't ready to see her. But if you did it would mean a lot to her, and to me, if you would do this."

The girls all remained silent, and it was Spencer who finally spoke up. "Okay, I'll do it," she said turning to face Ali. The other three looked amongst each other, as Spencer continued. "One thing I've learned over the last couple of years is that it's pointless to hold a grudge. I will never truly forgive Charlotte for what she did, but I am willing to give her a chance to explain herself to us. I think she at least owes us that."

"I agree," Aria said with a nod. Both Hanna and Emily nodded along as well, expressing their agreement. Hanna's face, however, betrayed her and Ali could tell she was not happy about this. But she was still grateful that Hanna was at least willing to do this for her.

"If we're going to go, we have to go together," Emily said looking amongst the girls who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah of course!" Ali said excitedly. "I'm going tomorrow afternoon if you guys want to come?"

"I can't," Hanna replied a little too quickly. "My mom and I are meeting with some wedding planners," she added so as to not seem suspicious.

"I'm going to be at Ezra's; we're meeting up to talk about his book," Aria said. When she mentioned Ezra, Spencer gave her a suggestive smirk, her eyebrows dancing teasingly, to which Aria rolled her eyes in response. "What about Saturday though?"

"Can't, my mom and I need to go over campaign stuff," Spencer said with a frown.

"Yeah, my mom's having some family over on Saturday," Emily said. "Do they have visiting hours on Sundays?"

"Yeah, they are!" Ali said immediately, the eagerness in her voice ostensible. "They allow visitors on the weekends because a lot of people are too busy during the week," she explained in a much less excited tone.

"Alright, well I guess we're going on Sunday then," Spencer said looking amongst the girls to make sure they were in consensus.

"I'll write it down on my calendar," Hanna said in a slightly sarcastic tone as she took the last sip of her drink. It was good to know that her straight forwardness had not wavered over the years.

There were so many things Ali wanted to say to Hanna right now, and most of them were not very nice. But she held herself back and took a long sip of her coffee. Sensing the uncomfortableness that had spread amongst them, Aria attempted to alleviate the unpleasant atmosphere.

"So Ali, how's teaching been?" she asked. "My mom was telling me the other day that your freshman had the highest average on some reading benchmark."

"Yeah, they did actually," Ali replied proudly with a broad smile. "My freshman are great; they're so cute and they're such hard workers!"

"What about the juniors though? I heard they're particularly awful this year."

"They're a handful that's for sure," she said with a laugh, remembering how one of the boys in her american literature class had asked if she would go to prom with him earlier today, and another one wanted to know if she was "down to get half-priced appetizers at Applebees." And the one girl who had tried to turn in an essay copy and pasted entirely from Wikipedia, she'd even forgotten to remove the hyperlink. "It's mostly just the American lit kids though, but the kids in my AP class are definitely less trouble. They're more focused and cause less trouble."

That wasn't entirely true, considering Lauren was in her AP class and after today she was hands down Ali's worst student. She'd honestly rather go to both prom and Applebees with those boys than even see Lauren again. But she thought about what Charlotte had said again, and she knew she wanted to do something about it. She just wasn't sure what that was yet.

"Wow, when did you become such a terrible liar?" Spencer asked rhetorically, chuckling to herself. "You literally looked disgusted when you said they caused less trouble."

Alison was appalled; there were a lot of things she may not have been that good at, but lying was definitely not one of them. That was one thing about her that she was sure hadn't changed over the years.

"And look at how she's clenching her jaw," Emily pointed out. Ali shot her a confused look and Emily said, "You always do that when you're stressed or something."

"No, I don't," Ali quipped, suddenly aware of how tight her jaw was. She'd never even realized she did that. "Okay, most of them are excellent students," she began, consciously relaxing her face. "But there's this one girl and she is so out of control." She paused to take a sip of her drink. "So she's like one of those super overachiever kids, you know, class president, plays a bunch of sports, and probably would have been valedictorian."

"Wow, sounds like you're describing Spencer," Hanna joked, speaking up for the first time in what felt like a while.

Ali looked at Spencer for a moment before shaking her head. "No, this kid is different. See Spencer's actually smart, but Lauren's one of those people who will just memorize everything for the test. She's really book smart, but she's not very practical. I don't know it's weird, she's actually a really good student though. She always writes great essays. Anyway, that's not the point. So one day out of nowhere she just stops showing up to class, she hasn't turned in a single assignment in weeks. Like even if she does come she'll just sit in the back on her phone or sleep."

"Honestly, it sounds like she's just burnt out," Spencer said, speaking from her own experience. "I bet she just needs a break from all of it."

"I thought that at first," Ali said, continuing her story. "But then this afternoon when I tried to talk to her, she told me that everything was fine and she's just busy with basketball and other stuff. Then I told her that she had to make up all her work, which is actually an extremely generous offer considering I should just give her a zero for everything, and she got mad at me. She actually walked out on me, like in the middle of everything."

"She could be doing it to get attention from her parents," Emily suggested. "Have you talked to them about this?"

"I tried calling them, but the assistant always says they're busy and neither of them have replied to any of my emails," Ali answered with a sigh. "I should definitely talk to them, though, this is way out of hand."

"I don't know," Spencer replied thoughtfully. "I really don't think it's as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. She's probably under a lot of pressure and then it sounds like her parents are distant too, trust me I know that feeling all too well."

"Maybe," Ali replied considering this possibility. "But I'm still really worried about her. What if something's really wrong?

"Well, if you're that worried you could go to her house to see her parents," Aria suggested.

"But isn't that kind of weird?" Ali asked with a slight frown of confusion.

"Yeah, a little bit. But my mom's done it before, especially when parents are too busy to come in, and Ezra has too. If she really does need help they'd probably be more grateful that you did it than anything."

"That's true," Ali said pondering her suggestion. Maybe she should do it, it wasn't like she had any better ideas. And it would definitely put her at ease if her parents at least knew what was going on. "I think I'll go now actually," she said grabbing her empty cup to toss on the way out.

"But what about dinner?" Emily asked as her face fell.

Ali frowned, she'd actually really been looking forward to going to dinner, and especially the fact that she wouldn't have to cook tonight. But this whole issue with Lauren had been causing her so much unnecessary stress and she just wanted to deal with it now. "Yeah, sorry I think I'll have to take a raincheck tonight," she said as she got to her feet. "Why don't you guys come over tomorrow for dinner though? I'm sure Elliot would love to see you guys."

"I'm always down for free food," Hanna commented.

"Same," Spencer agreed. "Besides the stove in the barn is broken so I can't even cook."

"Oh yeah, you're staying in your barn," Ali remarked. "I'll probably come over later tonight then." Ali grabbed her phone and her keys from her purse before turning to face the girls. "Okay, I'll see you guys tomorrow then. I'll text you with more deets later." She waved goodbye to them hastily before heading off towards the exit. It was a little past 5 and she didn't want to show up unannounced at Lauren's house too late.

As she was about to leave, she heard someone call her name from behind her. She turned around to see Emily taking long strides towards her. "Hey," she said with a big smile. "What's up?"

"I need to ask you something," she said, playing with the clasp of her watch absentmindedly.

"Yeah?"

Emily laughed, shaking her head at herself as she ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, this is kind of silly, but were you serious about us going to Paris? I totally thought you'd forgotten about that."

"Of course I was serious!" Ali replied excitedly. "We're so going this summer, just you and me."

"Seriously?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows, which caused her forehead to crease slightly. "What about Elliot?"

"Forget about him," Ali said dismissing her with a wave of her hand. "He would honestly rather spend his vacation at home golfing and watching TV all day."

"You know, you're really something," Emily said with an amused laugh.

"So I've been told," Ali said, smiling back at her cheekily.

"Alright, well I guess I'll let you go then," Emily said, giving her a hug. Ali held her tightly for a moment, taking in the familiar scent of vanilla mixed with cinnamon.

"Bye Em, I'll see you tomorrow," Ali said with a small half-hearted smile before she had to head out.


	2. Warning Sign

Ali meandered her way through the streets of a vast neighborhood on the edge of Rosewood, the sun setting over the city as she drove up the hill. She'd found Lauren's address on the school's online directory and was about a few minutes away from her house. The drive had been terrible with all the rush hour traffic, but she'd blasted the radio and that made it bearable. Lauren lived in one of the newer neighborhoods of the town with Mediterranean style mansions as opposed to the colonial style homes most of Rosewood's residents lived in. Her house sat atop the hill, and Ali knew it was hers as soon as she saw it because it as the biggest one on the entire street.

She slowed down to a roll as she pulled up, parking her car on the curb just in front of the lawn. There were two cars in the driveway and she could see several lights on through the large arched windows, which meant at least one of her parents had to be home. Shit. She'd actually been hoping no one would be there so she wouldn't have to do this. Alison was never one to shy from confrontation, but if there was one thing she had learned in her short time as a teacher, it was that parents hated being told their kids were doing something wrong. Especially when their kids were "perfect" like Lauren supposedly was.

Come on get a grip Alison, she thought to herself as she pushed open her car door. A brisk breeze swept through her blonde locks as she admired the sunset. As she started towards the house, she couldn't help but think to herself that maybe she was getting soft. A few years ago she would have barged into that house without a second doubt to give them a piece of her mind, but instead she was standing outside coaching herself. This was ridiculous; they were just your typical, wealthy, oblivious Rosewood parents. It was nothing she hadn't dealt with before she told herself as she walked up the paved path to their house. Honestly, if they didn't listen it was their daughter who was going to suffer. She really had nothing to lose.

She stood in front of the door about to ring the doorbell when it suddenly occurred to her that the cars parked in the driveway meant Lauren might be at home too. What if she was the one who answered the door? Would she let her in or slam it in her face? Anxiety swirled in her stomach and she hastily rang the doorbell. The noise echoed through the house as she crossed her arms over her chest rubbing her arms to keep warm. Glancing around the front yard, she found herself admiring how well kept it was. She was definitely going to have to get their gardener's number. The front door slowly swung open and Alison prayed that it wouldn't be Lauren behind it. Upon seeing a middle-aged woman that Ali safely assumed was Lauren's mother she breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"Hi, Mrs. Foley," Ali began sticking her hand out with a disarming smile. Her mother shook Ali's hand, reciprocating her greeting with confusion written across her face. "I'm Mrs. Rollins, Lauren's English teacher," Ali continued, watching her mother's face now crease with worry, emphasizing her wrinkles. She noted that her mother was a bit older than she would have expected. "I know it's kind of strange to show up to your house like this, but I need to talk to you and your husband and Lauren."

"No, no, it's fine," her mother said ushering her into the house almost immediately. "Please come inside. It's freezing out there." Ali entered the house expressing her thanks as she slipped into the foyer. The inside of the house was every bit as extravagant as the outside with high ceilings and crumbling rock walls. The foyer was adorned with polished white marble and a large orchid plant standing at the foot of a vast curving staircase.

"Jen, who was at the door?" a deep voice called from beyond the foyer. A tall, well-built man emerged from the hallway with a glass of scotch in hand, Lauren's father presumably. Lauren was definitely a mix of both her parents; she had her father's height and dark hair, but she got her rail thin figure from her mother. Both of them were certainly more fair than her though.

"Dear, this is Mrs. Rollins; she's Lauren's English teacher," her mother began gesturing towards Alison. "She says she needs to talk to us about Lauren."

"Oh?" her father said knitting his eyebrows in confusion, his forehead wrinkling. He exchanged an unreadable glance with his wife. "Well, um, please take a seat in the living room then. I'll get you something to drink."

Before Ali could even protest, he had disappeared down the hallway somewhere and she turned to face her mother with an awkward smile. "You'll have to excuse my husband," her mother said with a chuckle as she led Ali to the living room. "For some reason he's very persistent about always offering our guests something to drink."

"Oh no, it's okay," Ali said in reassurance. "My husband does weird things like this all the time too."

Her mother turned to her with an eyebrow raised questioningly, "You're married already? But you're so young."

Ali could feel herself smiling nervously and she let out a little laugh. "Yeah, it was really impulsive, but it was the right decision at the time."

Jen nodded offering Ali a seat on the large sofa, while she sat down opposite her on a smaller one of similar design.

Ali took a look around the living room, admiring the artwork that adorned the walls. She also took notice of a huge showcase with little knick knacks and books, a vast section in the middle was filled with various trophies and awards that Lauren had accumulated over the years. There was everything from sports trophies, to her student of the month award from earlier this year and even a trophy from a spelling bee she had won in the sixth grade. Her parents were certainly proud of her. Ali scanned the room once more when her eyes caught the attention of three school pictures displayed on the mantle above the fire place. The one in the middle was undeniably Lauren, but the other two were senior portraits of a boy and a girl she didn't recognize.

Lauren looked a little different in her picture; she was a lot more tan, and her hair that she normally wore curled was straightened and a little lighter from the summer sun, the tips a fading ombré. She was smiling widely, with her cheekbones raised high and it actually looked kind of like she might have been laughing at something.

"Lauren's not at home right now," her mother began disrupting Alison from her thoughts. "I think she's hanging out with some friends. Did you want her to be here as well?"

Ali responded by shaking her head a little too eagerly. "No, no it's fine. Um, it might be better if she's not here actually."

Her mother frowned, crossing one leg over the other. She didn't say anything and the uncomfortable silence in the room was making Ali even more nervous than she needed to be.

"That's a beautiful picture of Lauren by the way," Ali said gesturing towards her photo in an attempt to ease the awkwardness. "I didn't think it was possible for someone to take a good yearbook photo," she joked. That was totally a lie. In fact, she prided herself on the fact that her school pictures had always been flawless. The one she'd taken for sophomore year just a week before that faithful Labor Day was a personal favorite. Even her drivers license looked amazing. She just figured it would be a good idea to butter up her parents before dropping the bomb that their daughter could potentially fail the eleventh grade.

"Oh god no, I can't stand it," her mother replied with a dry laugh. "Look at how dark she is; I always tell her to wear sunscreen before practice, especially in the summer, but she never listens. And her hair. I begged her not to do the ombré and of course she went off and did exactly that. It looked awful, but at least it's fading in the picture. I wanted her to sign up for the picture retake, but she was sick that day so she missed it."

Ali looked back at the picture with a frown. She'd actually thought the picture was pretty cute. Lauren wasn't wearing much makeup so she looked younger and more innocent; but mostly it was that she looked genuinely happy, and that was something Alison hadn't been able to say about her for a while. Maybe it was different when you looked at it from a parent's perspective though. Nonetheless she still quite liked the picture; it reminded her of the old Lauren, not the angry bitter girl from earlier this afternoon.

"Who are the kids in the other two pictures?" Ali asked trying to break the displeasing quietness that had fallen over them again.

Although her mom smiled as she gazed at the pictures fondly, Ali could have sworn she saw a glint of sadness in her eyes. "Those are Kyle and Kylie, my older kids." Ali had to hold herself back from laughing at the alliteration in their names, she'd always found that cheesy. It was kind of weird though, she had assumed Lauren was an only child, she just had that kind of attitude about her.

"Huh," Ali said softly as she tried to think back to if Lauren had ever mentioned having any siblings. "How old are they? They must be in college, right?"

Her mother looked down to the ground before looking to Alison and she swore she saw it again, that little flash of sadness in her eyes. "Well Kyle graduated from UC Berkeley a few years ago," she began with a small smile. "He's 26 now and he lives in California. He works at a start up company over in San Jose. He doesn't really visit much, although he'd like to, but that boy has just always been such a workaholic."

Ali nodded along putting small pieces together. A ten year age gap was pretty big; he likely hadn't been around for much of Lauren's childhood after leaving to go college all the way across the country. And it was probably hard for her not seeing him very often. "What about Kylie?" Ali asked. "What's she up to right now?"

In one moment, her mother's face went completely blank and she stared at something in the distance as she pursed her lips the same way Lauren did. There was a pause before she spoke. "Um actually, Kylie passed away a few years ago in an accident when she was-"

"Oh my god I'm so sorry," Ali immediately blurted out, accidentally cutting her off. Her mother smiled back weakly. "I- I'm really just so sorry," Ali said offering her condolences. "That must have been really hard for you guys. I can't imagine how it must feel to lose a child…"

She nodded in response. "It was certainly a tough time for all of us, but you have to accept that life goes on," she said with a shrug avoiding Alison's sorrowful gaze. "We all still miss her though."

Ali held back her own tears as things started falling into place in her head. There was so much she didn't know about Lauren. She'd always seen her as a very happy and lively girl; she never would have imagined that she could know this kind of sadness at such a young age. She looked back at the pictures, this time observing both Kyle and Kylie. Kyle had slightly olive skin and dark hair; he looked a lot more like Lauren than his sister. Kylie resembled their mother with smooth ivory skin and dark blonde hair. She had striking green eyes in contrast to the light brown of Lauren and Kyle, but she and Lauren did share the same glowing smile.

"Lauren's very different from her sister," her mother remarked catching Alison's attention. "Kylie was more of a wallflower, but Lauren loves being the center of attention." She chuckled to herself without taking her eyes off from the picture of Kylie.

Alison could sense that she was uncomfortable talking about Lauren's sister. It seemed like it was really difficult despite the facade of nonchalance she was putting on so she tried to change the subject to Lauren. But she found besides her recent performance in school she couldn't really think of anything else to say about her. Glancing around the room for inspiration, she just went with the first thing she saw, which happened to be a basketball trophy.

"So, uh, basketball season is starting soon. Is Lauren excited?" Ali said a little unsurely. She knew the kids had been in practice lately, but she didn't know if they'd actually started games. She just hoped talking about Lauren would ease the tension.

At the mention of basketball, her mother's face lit up and she beamed at Ali. "Lauren is beyond excited," she replied now much more animated with no hint of sadness. "It's all she's been talking about ever since field hockey ended. She stays late everyday to put in extra practice with her coach. I really think this is going to be the year for her."

Ali nodded along with a smile, encouraging her to continue, but she had no idea what she was in for. In the few minutes it took for Lauren's father to emerge from the kitchen with their drinks she had learned not only Lauren's basketball stats from the last three years, but also her field hockey, and track results, along with her GPA and PSAT score (she was waiting for January to take the actual SAT, but if her PSAT score was any indication her mother had no worries). Lauren definitely wasn't acting out for attention, her parents were way too proud of her. While this was great news for Lauren, Ali only became more uneasy at the thought of breaking the news to her parents

Lauren's father handed her a cup of coffee before sitting down next to his wife, with his own drink in hand. "So what did you want to talk about Mrs. Rollins?" her father asked. "Is everything okay with Lauren?"

"Oh please, call me Alison," Ali said waving her hand in dismissal to lighten the mood. She timidly took a sip of the coffee trying to gather her thoughts. There was no easy way to go about this, she just had to be brave and do it. Her parents were watching her expectantly waiting for an answer. "Your daughter is a very bright and intelligent young girl," Ali began. Her plan was to start off with a compliment and then ease them in. "She used to be one of the strongest students in my class, but there have been some problems lately. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay here at home with her."

Her parents exchanged a glance with an unreadable expression once again before her father turned back to Alison and said. "Everything is fine here, we haven't noticed anything unusual."

"Could you elaborate on what kinds of problems you're having?" her mother asked, her eyes narrowed.

She took another sip of coffee and spoke with absolute confidence. "Well, first of all she hardly shows up to class these days. I see her maybe once or twice a week, and when she does come she never turns in any assignments or participates in class. She's missed so much work these past few weeks; her grade has dropped down to a C."

Her father's eyes widened and he froze, the glass of scotch at his lips looking at his wife with that same inscrutable expression from before.

"Lauren has a C?" her mother repeated, her voice incredulous. The way she said it made it seem as if she couldn't possibly fathom the reality of this situation, like maybe Ali was making a mistake.

Sighing internally, Ali unzipped her bag, pulling out Lauren's six-week progress report. She placed it on the coffee table sliding it towards her parents. The paper was adorned with yellow and orange highlights signifying days of school and assignments Lauren had missed respectively.

Her parents were hunched over, their eyes narrowing as they scanned the paper. Her father leaned back massaging his temples and looked at his wife who's lips were drawn in a tight line as she continued to scrutinize Lauren's progress report. "I… I can't believe that this is happening," he admitted. "It's not like Lauren at all. She's never done something like this before."

"I know," Ali replied nodding solemnly. "That's how I felt as well. I actually tried to talk to her this afternoon at lunch and find out what was going on, but she didn't take it too well. She said some really awful things and stormed out of my classroom after I told her that I wanted her to come in and make up all her missing work. Then she never ended up coming to seventh period."

Her mother furrowed her eyebrows. "What did she say to you?"

Alison thought back to Lauren's words, the way she'd so easily insulted Charlotte and she decided it was something she really didn't want to get into with her parents. "Well, I don't really want to go into detail," Ali said. "I think it's more important that we get Lauren back on track. I know she's talked about going to Stanford, but that's not going to happen with grades like this."

"Is it like this in her other classes?" her mother asked, concern lacing her voice.

"I haven't really talked with any of her other teachers, but I do know that she might be kicked out of leadership because of her poor attendance," Ali said remembering her conversation with Jane earlier.

Her mother gasped audibly and her father put one hand on her knee in reassurance. "That can't be possible," he muttered half to himself. "Lauren loves leadership. She's been class president since fifth grade."

"Look, I can't do anything about that situation, but I am willing to let her make up all the work," she's missed," Ali offered as a condolence to her parents. They seemed so devastated to learn of Lauren's behavior; it came as a relief to Alison though, it was nice to know that her parents cared that much about her. "But if she continues to behave like she did earlier this afternoon, then then there's nothing I can do for her. Lauren needs to be willing to work with me."

"Oh don't worry she most definitely will be," her father assured. He looked at his wife ambiguously. "We're going to have a long talk with her when she gets home. Trust me, there won't be anymore problems from her."

"Thank you so much Alison," her mother said giving her a small tight lipped smile. "We really do appreciate what you're willing to do for our daughter. And I truly do apologize for any trouble she's caused you."

Ali smiled back compassionately thinking to herself how grateful she was that her parents were understanding about the circumstances. This had certainly gone much more smoothly than she had anticipated and she almost wanted to laugh as she thought about how nervous she'd been outside. The living room had fallen silent when suddenly the front door opened and closed with a loud thud.

"Speak of the devil," her mother murmured raising her eyebrows as Lauren's father took a long sip of his scotch.

"Hey Dad," Lauren's voice traveled through the hall over from the foyer. "Someone's parked in my spot so I had to put my car in the driveway behind your car. I'll probably move it in the morning so don't worry. Oh, and I don't have gas. Can you fill it up for me?"

"Lauren, can you come into the living room for a minute?" her dad called his voice carrying strongly.

"Ugh, but I have so much work to do," Lauren whined loudly as her footsteps thumped down the hallway. Ali almost let out a laugh; what a joke. She knew for a fact Lauren wasn't even planning on touching her homework. Moments later Lauren emerged from the hall, wearing the same clothes she'd worn earlier to school with her basketball bag slung over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw Alison sitting on the couch.

"Come sit down, Lauren," her mother said in a commanding tone. You could tell she was not in the mood to mess around. Apprehensively, Lauren dropped her bag by the opening of the hallway before making her way over to sit down next to her mother across from Alison. For someone who'd just come back from practice, Lauren certainly didn't look too tired. In fact, she looked more alert than she had earlier that day.

"What is she doing here?" Lauren asked in confusion gesturing towards Alison. "What's going on?"

"Lauren," her mother said in a low irritated voice. "Don't be so rude."

"Alison here tells us you've been cutting class and missing assignments," her father began. "Maybe you should tell us what's going on because none of us seem to understand it," he said handing her the progress report.

Lauren snatched the paper from him, her eyebrows knitting as she skimmed the paper. She clenched the paper tightly and looked up at Alison with a spiteful glare. "You are such a fucking cunt," she spat bitterly.

Alison's eyes widened in bewilderment and her jaw dropped. She literally hadn't said a single word to Lauren this evening, how could she be so angry at her? More so than that she couldn't possibly begin to understand how Lauren had the audacity to talk like that to her, especially in front of her parents. Even Alison in her "glory days" wouldn't have dared cross that line in front of her mother and father.

Lauren's parents were equally mortified; her mother's face painted over in horror as her father tightened his grip around his glass of scotch. He whispered something to his wife and she nodded in response. "Go outside, we need to talk," her mother muttered as she stood up from the couch.

"Mom!" Lauren protested indignantly. "It's not me, she's the one-"

"Lauren, go with your mother," her father in a voice that was so rigid and steely it gave Alison the chills. Before he had kept exchanging obscure glances with his wife, but now there was no mistake. The look he gave Lauren was undoubtedly filled with anger.

Lauren got to her feet with a huff and her mother grabbed her by wrist dragging her out to the backyard. Ali watched as they disappeared out back, slightly disappointed that her view was obstructed by the blinds. As petty as it was, she kind of wanted to see Lauren get it from her mother.

Her father was staring at the curtains too, that vague look upon his face again. He finished off his drink with a deep sigh running his hand through his graying hair. "I don't even know how to begin apologizing for Lauren's behavior," he said solemnly. "I'm so sorry for this, you came all the way here out of concern for her and the way she just treated you so disrespectful." He paused, shaking the ice in his glass. "I'm not sure if you still want to work with her after that, but if the offer still stands my wife and I would be very grateful."

Alison was honestly so put off by Lauren's attitude that she didn't want to work with her at all. There were no words to describe how much she loathed her right now. But then she found herself glancing over at the girl smiling in her school picture and she thought to herself that the girl who had just been sitting across from her was not the same person. She didn't know what had made Lauren change so much, maybe it was because she was sad. It couldn't be easy to lose your sister at such a young age; Ali knew if anything happened to Charlotte she'd be devastated and Lauren probably felt the same way. But still it worried her that she saw Lauren going down a dark path and eventually becoming the kind of person she had been in the past. The kind of person who wasn't afraid to hurt others. One thing Alison had promised herself when she first started teaching was that she wouldn't let any of her students act the way she had, and unfortunately that held true for Lauren as well. As much as she didn't want to deal with her, Alison knew she had to do something before things got worse for Lauren.

"No, I don't mind at all," Alison finally replied with a fake smile. "I can meet with her at lunch and after school until she's all caught up."

"And maybe you could come over on the weekends too?" her father asked tentatively. "Just to speed things up."

Her first instinct was to nod and agree, which she immediately regretted. She was already giving up her lunch periods and after school time she could be spending with Charlotte for the little brat and now her weekends? But when she saw her father smile back at her in relief, she knew she had to commit to it; she couldn't let him down now. Well that's just great she thought to herself. Who wouldn't want to spend the weekend being insulted by an eleventh grade devil child who didn't even fill up her own gas?

"Thank you so much," her father said gratitude filling his voice. "You don't know how much my wife and I appreciate this and once again I am so so sorry for what Lauren said tonight. We'll be speaking to her tonight and trust me you will not have anymore issues from her. If you do, though, please give me or my wife a call. I'll have my assistant know to let you through if you call."

"It's no problem," Ali said thinking to herself how wrong her friends were. She was still a great liar, those bitches had no idea what they were talking about. Ali took a look at her watch, but she didn't even bother to check the time. "Oh it's so late," she remarked. "I should be going."

"Right, of course," her father said standing to his feet. "Please, let me show you to the door. I'm sorry for keeping you so long."

He was about to lead her to the front door when the glass door to the backyard flung open and Lauren's mother emerged. "Get inside Lauren," she called over her shoulder. Now with the door open Alison could see her, the young girl's face illuminated by the glow from the swimming pool. She was staring into the water, her eyelids drooping and the corners of her lips pulled down slightly in a frown. She didn't seem angry anymore, just so awfully sad. Even though Ali knew Lauren deserved whatever punishment her parents had in mind, for some godforsaken reason when she saw how unhappy Lauren looked she actually felt a twinge of pity.

"Oh, are you leaving?" her mother asked her eyes slightly widened. "Could you wait a minute? Lauren has something she wants to say to you."

Ali couldn't possibly imagine what else Lauren had to say to her and she didn't want to stick around to hear it. Besides, she was still standing outside sulking by the pool. When her mother noticed her still standing out back she sighed in annoyance and was about to go call her again when her father put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'll deal with her later," he said reassuringly. She glanced outside at Lauren before nodding somberly.

"Alison, I can not convey how sorry I am for what Lauren said to you," her mother said sincerely as they walked to the door. "I can assure you that she will never behave like this again and if she does, please let us know." She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest as her husband opened the door, cold air rushing in. "Thank you so much. I can't begin to explain how much we appreciate you coming here."

"Well it's just my job," Ali said forcing a smile. "Have nice night you two," she added courteously. "And tell Lauren, I'll be seeing her tomorrow."

"Will do," her father said with a small nod. "Goodnight Alison and once again thank you."

She flashed them both a smile and waved before heading out into the night. As she walked down the path towards her car she noticed Lauren's BMW now parked in the driveway and rolled her eyes in contempt. It was a brand new shiny black 5 series. The only reason she even recognized it was because she had begged her father for one when she was younger but he had refused, claiming a $50,000 car was too expensive for a teenager. He bought her an Audi instead as if he expected her to drive it around like a middle class pleb. Of course Lauren would have one though. That brat probably got everything she wanted.

Unlocking her car with a sigh, Ali slumped in the driver's seat and ran a hand through her hair frustratedly. She leaned back against her seat letting out another long sigh. For some reason she just felt so defeated. Replaying the moment in her head, she couldn't believe that she didn't say anything back to Lauren. God, she actually was getting soft. As she stared out her window she found herself fixated on Lauren's car again. Maybe her parents bought her all these expensive things to fill the void left by her siblings. Alison herself knew a thing or two about parents who thought money was an acceptable replacement for love. But Lauren's parents were nothing like Alison's. They actually seemed to care about her; it was a shame that Lauren didn't see that, she didn't understand how lucky she was.

She started her engine to begin the drive home, this time without the radio. When she needed to think she liked it to be quiet. So she drove in complete silence running over that scene in her head over and over again. She really just wanted to understand Lauren, but the more she thought about what had happened tonight the angrier she got. But her anger wasn't directed towards Lauren; it was directed at herself. More than anything she was disappointed in herself for enabling Lauren to slander Charlotte and then herself and she hated herself for it.

When she pulled up in her own driveway she was so relieved to see that Elliot was at home. This whole day had just drained her and all she wanted was for Elliot to hold her. She unlocked the door and near immediately Pepe came bolting down the hall to greet her, his tail wagging happily. "Hi boy," she said smiling slightly as she bent down to scratch his head. His tail began to wag faster and Alison couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. Pepe was such a sweetheart, he always knew how to make her feel better. He followed her into the living room where Elliot was sitting on the couch, watching TV with a beer in hand. His face lit up when he saw Ali and he smiled, scooting over to make room for her and Pepe.

"Hey baby," he murmured as Ali curled up on the couch next to him. Ali wrapped her arms around him and rested her head below his shoulder as he put one arm around her, holding her close. "How was dinner with your friends?"

"I didn't go," she mumbled lazily narrowing her eyes at the basketball game on TV. It was honestly such a stupid sport, no wonder Lauren was good at it. All they did was run back and forth and jump around. She watched as the player on the block spun around at least 4 times before finally shooting the ball, unable to understand why the crowd was going so crazy. He just looked like an oversized ballerina.

"What? Why?" Elliot asked, now concerned. "What happened? Did things not go well? Do you want me to talk to them?"

Ali shook her head with a little giggle. Elliot could be so neurotic sometimes. "No, no, everything went fine. They said they'll meet with Charlotte on Sunday, but I mean they were still obviously a little…" she trailed off searching for the right word. "They're reserved about it, but I think it'll be fine. Once they talk to Charlotte they'll see that she isn't dangerous."

"Okay that's good," Elliot said as he nodded thoughtfully. "Sunday's a good day; she won't have any appointments so she'll be relaxed." He lost his train of thought as his team got a steal and the point guard took it all the way down the court to make a layup. "Yeah that's my boy!" he cheered.

Ali frowned and huffed. "Change the channel," she demanded. "I want to watch something else."

"But honey," he protested gesturing towards the TV. "Look the Knicks are actually up! Come on just five more minutes!"

"No basketball is stupid," Ali muttered pressing her head further into his chest. Elliot had been neglecting the gym recently so he'd lost a lot of muscle, which made his chest soft and squishy. She liked it though; he was more comfy this way.

"Can we watch football then?" he asked hopefully but Ali shook her head vehemently.

"Sports are dumb. I want to watch The Bachelor."

Elliot frowned and he was about to argue that she'd already watched The Bachelor twice on Monday, but something in Ali's eyes told him to keep quiet. Albeit reluctantly, he surfed through the DVR recordings to play the most recent episode of The Bachelor. The episode began and Elliot rubbed Ali's back comfortingly. "Hey," he began softly. "If you didn't go to dinner with your friends, where have you been all this time then?"

He could feel Ali tense up, but then she let out a sigh and mumbled into his shirt, "I went to Lauren's house to see her parents."

Elliot frowned in confusion, partly because whole premise of The Bachelor made no sense to him, but mostly at Alison just said. "Lauren? Like the kid in your class? Why did you go to her house?"

Ali shrugged. "I don't know really; Aria suggested it and it seemed like a good idea at the time…" she trailed off as she remembered the encounter, feeling embarrassed as she recalled how weak she'd been.

"Did something happen? Did they say anything to you?"

Ali sighed again and shook her head. "No, her parents were actually really nice. They were totally understanding about everything, but Lauren didn't exactly react that well."

Elliot glanced down at her, encouraging her to go on. That was one thing she really loved about him; he was such a good listener. So she told him everything, and he sat there and listened to every single word without ever interrupting her.

Normally Elliot always had insightful things to say when Ali needed help. He listened intently and processed his thoughts before saying something and more often than not it would make her feel better. But tonight, when Ali finished her story all he could do was laugh. And it wasn't just a little chuckle; it was one of those big deep belly laughs that resounds through your entire body. "I'm sorry," he said through a guffaw. "But did you seriously let her call you a cunt to your face and not do anything about it?"

"Stop laughing," Ali whined pushing him away from her as she sat up on the couch crossing her arms over her chest. She was so annoyed; Elliot was supposed to be diagnosing Lauren with like a narcissistic personality disorder or something, not laughing at her. "What was I even supposed to say to her? Tell her that she's a spoiled little bitch?"

Elliot laughed again placing his beer on the coffee table before resting his hand on Ali's knee. "Alison, you went off on the vet the other day for calling Pepe fat. I can't imagine how you didn't say anything to a 16 year old girl who called you a cunt."

"Ok first of all Pepe is not fat, he's fluffy and it's cute," Ali said angrily defending the only being in this house she actually liked right now. She grabbed Elliot's beer and took a long sip before saying, "Honestly, I don't know what to do with her. I can't tell if I feel bad for her or I want to strangle her."

"That happens a lot with kids like her," Elliot explained. He dealt with stubborn patients all the time so he was no stranger to malicious unwarranted attacks. "Right now Lauren sees you as the enemy, but you have to show her that you really just want to be there for her. It's like when I first started treating Charlotte, remember? She hated me because she didn't understand that I wanted to help her. Lauren's probably going through something similar right now."

Ali sighed because she knew he was totally right. She really did want to help Lauren and bring back the girl that had walked into her class on the first day of school; the girl in that picture who had been smiling so happily. Alison could see that Lauren had a lot of potential and as her teacher it was her job to harness it and make her into something great. It was going to be difficult but Ali had never been one to back away from a challenge. "I still hate her though," she mumbled leaning against Elliot's shoulder.

Elliot threw his head back in laughter. "It's okay," he replied kissing Ali's temple. "If one of my patients called me a cunt, I'd probably hate them too."

"No, that's not why I hate her," Ali said as her stomach grumbled. "She has a 5-series."

"Like a BMW 5-series?"

Ali nodded closing her tired eyes, "Yeah. I want a 5-series."

Elliot frowned, "But I just bought you a range rover."

"I don't care. I want a 5-series."

Taking advantage of Ali's sleepiness, Elliot surreptitiously changed the TV back to the game. There were five and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter and his Knicks were down by almost 20. He scowled in annoyance at the game as he combed his fingers through Ali's hair. "What about a 3-series?"

"No, those are for poor people. I want a 5-series."

"Okay, I'll buy you a 5-series," he murmured leaning down to kiss her forehead. Ali's stomach grumbled again and they both laughed. She hadn't eaten anything since the Brew and she was starving, considering she'd skipped out on dinner with the girls.

"Is there any pizza left?" Ali asked looking up at Elliot her eyes big and wide

He smiled sheepishly scratching the back of his head with hand. "Um, actually I was really hungry so I finished it all since I thought you were eating with the girls."

Ali groaned and lightly punched him in the chest. Elliot let out a high pitched yelp that made Ali giggle. "You need to lay off the pizza and start hitting the gym again," she said as she sat up stretching her arms over her head. "You're getting soft."

"I am not," he protested puffed out his chest. He pushed up his sleeve and flexed his arms. "Look, I'm not even flexing!"

Ali laughed out of embarrassment. "Stop," she said as she got to her feet. "You sound like the freshman boys in my class."

Elliot's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

"I"m going to Spencer's to see if she has anything to eat," Ali replied. "She's staying in the barn while she works on her mother's campaign."

Elliot nodded along in understanding, but he was too fixated on the game. There were now three minutes left and the Knicks had cut the deficit to 11, giving them a very slim chance at winning. "Come on Melo don't let me down buddy," he muttered under his breath.

Ali shook her head in annoyance as she headed out to the backyard, but it did give her an idea. Maybe she could learn about basketball so she'd have something to talk about with Lauren during their little sessions. But then as she slipped through Spencer's back door into her backyard she remembered how dumb basketball was and dropped the idea.

The door to the barn was slightly ajar so Ali just went inside without knocking. "Hey," she called to Spencer who was standing by her closet hanging up some clothes. "We don't have any food at home. Do you have anything to eat?"

Spencer laughed, shaking her head at Ali. This was so typical of her to just barge in. But she didn't quite mind, it reminded her of old times when Ali would sneak over after dinner and they'd sit in the barn talking as they ate ice cream. "Yeah, there's a box of leftovers on the counter," Spencer replied.

Ali grabbed a fork, opening the to go box to find a half piece of parmesan chicken and some baked vegetables. She wasn't too much of a chicken person, but right now she was too hungry to care. "Thanks so much," she said before proceeding to attack the chicken as if she hadn't eaten in days.

Spencer raised an eyebrow at her as she tossed her a bottle of water from the fridge. "You do know that chicken isn't going anywhere?" Ali rolled her eyes, her mouth filled with food as she caught the bottle.

"I know," Ali mumbled through a mouthful of food. She paused to chew and swallow. "I just haven't eaten anything since this afternoon. I'm starving."

"Oh yeah," Spencer said as she took a seat at the kitchen table. "You went to see that girl's parents, right? How did her parents take it?"

Ali took a long swig of water before continuing to stuff her face. As she chewed, she decided to tell Spencer, as humiliating as it was. Spencer was her friend, she'd understand the whole situation without judging her, unlike a certain someone who was sleeping on the couch tonight.

"Surprisingly they weren't the problem," Ali answered as she took another bite. "They were actually really friendly and kind. I explained to them what was going on and of course they were shocked at first, but they didn't overreact or anything. Honestly, I think they're just as confused as me. Anyway so we agreed that Lauren would come see me after school and at lunch and everything was going just great until Lauren came back from practice." Ali paused and sighed brushing her long hair out of her face. "Basically this story ends with her calling me a cunt straight to my face and I was so shocked I sat there and didn't say anything."

Spencer looked at her, completely appalled, before the corners of her mouth spread into a big wide smile and she threw her head back in laughter. She was laughing so hard she had to hold onto the table to brace herself.

"Why are you laughing?" Ali exclaimed her eyes widening in a mixture of annoyance in confusion. "This isn't funny, you're supposed to be on my side! Come on Spence I thought you were my friend!"

After taking a moment to compose herself, Spencer said, "Yeah, and as your friend there is no way I can believe you would sit there and not say anything at all to her. Geez, we were only kidding earlier when we said you got soft, but apparently it's true."

"No, I just grew up," Ali replied irritably. "Look, I'm not 15 anymore. I can't just go around saying whatever the hell I want to people without facing the consequences.

The barn fell silent for a moment before Spencer finally asked, "So what are you going to do about her then?"

"Just work with her on catching up on all the missing work I guess," Ali said swishing the water around in the bottle absentmindedly. "I wish I knew how to get through to her, but that girl is such an enigma. I can't seem to figure her out and it's really pissing me off."

Spencer propped her head up with one hand, pursing her lips in thought. "Hey, I've got an idea," she said her face lighting up. She leaned over the table pulling her laptop towards her and Ali raised an eyebrow. Throwing away the empty takeout box, she pulled up the chair next to Spencer sitting down beside her.

"What are you doing?"

"Opposition research," Spencer explained. "See like for my mom's campaign we do research on the opponent, you know to get the dirt on them and stuff. My parents always used to do stuff like this before they met potential clients. It gives you an idea of what they're like and what kind of things you want to talk about with them."

"And how does this help me?" Ali asked as Spencer pulled up the Google homepage.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure," Spencer replied with a little laugh as she began to type into the search bar. "I just want to know more about this kid. What's her last name by the way?"

"Foley."

"Foley?" Spencer repeated as she typed it in. "Wait, her sister's Kylie right? The girl that died a few years back?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Ali asked, raising an eyebrow at Spencer's bluntness.

"She went to school with us," Spencer said as she clicked on the first link that came up. "You know, the cheerleading girl."

"That's so weird," Ali muttered half to herself as Spencer browsed through the search results. "I wonder why I've never heard of her." But then again thinking about it, if she was younger than them she wouldn't have even gone to Rosewood when Ali had been a freshman. And when she came back mid semester senior year, socializing with underclassmen hadn't exactly been a priority given the circumstances.

"I'm sure you saw her around," Spencer replied clicking on a link about the field hockey state championship. "We were in leadership together, but I only spoke to her a few times. She was a nice girl from what I remember, pretty quiet though." Spencer paused for a second. "Wow, it must have been rough for her. Melissa and I might not get along, but I have no idea what I'd do without her."

"Yeah," Ali mumbled in agreement. She felt the same way if anything were to happen to Charlotte, but she didn't exactly want to say that in front of Spencer. She knew how her friend still felt and she wasn't looking for another confrontation tonight. "What does it say?" Ali asked peering over Spencer's shoulder.

"Not much," Spencer replied as she skimmed through the article. "Basically Lauren led the Sharks to the state finals and they were the favorite to win it. She scored two goals in the first half, but in the second half Saint Francis came back and shut her down. Then they scored three goals and ended up winning the game."

"Oh," Ali said flatly. She didn't really know what else to say. She'd briefly cared about field hockey when she learned that Ian was coaching it way back when, but now it seemed about as dumb as basketball. And it wasn't like she'd ever really understood it anyway. Sports were so stupid.

"Yeah I mean there's not a lot else besides articles about sports," Spencer said glancing at Ali.

"Let me see," Ali muttered grabbing the laptop from Spencer. Of course she was right though, Spencer was always right. They were mostly articles from the school newspaper. A lot of it was about basketball and field hockey games, a few track meets, and other random school related stuff like clubs and homecoming and spirit week and fundraisers. Besides that there was one article about her dad's business importing goods manufactured by slave labor that had Ali rolling her eyes. Accusations like that were like a businessman's right of passage in Rosewood. You haven't made it to the top unless someone accuses you of using slave labor. There was however one link about her sister that piqued her interest: Kylie's obituary.

Normally, Ali would have found these kind of things morbid and preferred to stay away from them, but her curiosity got the best of her. The article was short, but it described her as a kind, giving soul who only saw the best in all. It went on to talk about some of her accomplishments such as being head cheerleader, a National Merit Finalist and AP Scholar with distinction. She had just been accepted to the University of Chicago a few days prior to being hit by a drunk driver while on a late night jog. The driver was never identified.

Ali leaned back and frowned. It was really an awful situation and Lauren certainly didn't deserve to go through something like that. But still, it didn't explain her uncharacteristic behavior, especially considering it had happened nearly 5 years ago. She continued scrolling through the article, although at this point she wasn't really reading it anymore.

There were a lot of photos, including the senior portrait she'd seen earlier in Lauren's house. Most of them were childhood photos with Lauren and Kyle and some posted by her friends. At the end, there was a section where people shared their condolences. It reminded her of the comments left on her own memorial page wall. Although there was one glaring exception; the comment's on Kylie's page were overwhelmingly positive. In fact there wasn't a single nasty comment.

Ali suddenly felt an uncomfortable gnaw in her stomach and she hastily slammed Spencer's laptop shut. This earned her a pointed glare from her friend, but she wasn't really paying attention. Spencer's "opposition research" plan did nothing to help her and she was just as confused as she'd been earlier this afternoon. Maybe there was a lot she didn't know about Lauren, but there was one thing she was certain of: she wasn't going to rest until she finally figured her out.

* * *

Let me know what ya think and if I should continue, I appreciate any and all feedback, like even if you think it sucks pls tell me and I can try and fix it! 😊


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